Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 19 May 2016

:: National ::

Tim Cook makes first visit to India

Tim Cook is in India and he is mixing business with pleasure, and spirituality. The CEO of the $233 billion Apple Inc., on his maiden India trip, started his day with a visit to the Shree Siddhivinayak temple.
Apple announced a $1 billion investment in taxi-hailing company, Didi Chuxing, in China.
Mr. Cook’s first visit assumes significance as Apple reported its first quarterly drop in global iPhone sales last month, while its India revenues grew by 56 per cent.
Coinciding with the visit, the company announced an iOS mobile app design centre in Bengaluru, intended to support and accelerate the growth of Apple’s developer community.

IMD warns of intensifying Cyclonic activity

Even as officials at the India Meteorological Department have warned of searing heat waves in several parts of North India.
IMD also said the torrential downpour in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala was due to a cyclonic depression that could well bring the season’s first cyclone.
The depression has moved towards Andhra Pradesh coast and will intensify into a cyclonic storm, after which it is likely to move towards the Northeast and off north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts in the subsequent 48 hours.
IMD also said that “there may be rains for two more days and then it will reduce as (depression) will move towards Myanmar.
The IMD’s latest update says the Southwest monsoon has advanced into some parts of Southeast Bay of Bengal, entire south Andaman Sea and Nicobar Islands.
The conditions were favourable for further advance of the Southwest monsoon into some more parts of south Bay of Bengal, Andaman Islands and remaining parts of north Andaman Sea in the next three to four days.
The IMD has said that monsoon in Kerala would likely be on June 7 but the overall forecast of above normal rainfall was unchanged.

Ahead of China visit President calls for all out fight against terrorism (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Muslim women moved to court against triple talaq (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

Hillary Clinton closer to getting nominations

Hillary Clinton claimed victory in Kentucky and Bernie Sanders took Oregon in Democratic primaries, but the outcomes would do little to change the dynamics in the race.
Ms. Clinton has a clear lead over her rival in terms of the number of delegates who will elect the party’s candidate for November’s presidential election.
Meanwhile, a national match-up poll showed that Ms. Clinton is leading the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, by just three percentage points.
Ms. Clinton gets 48 per cent against Mr. Trump’s 45 per cent. In their respective party bases, they have the same support—87 per cent.
In ‘unfavourable’ ratings, Ms. Clinton is doing better than Mr. Trump, but there are danger signals for her.
In an improvement of two points over a month, 56 per cent see her unfavourably; for Mr. Trump, the unfavourable rating dropped from 65 per cent to 60 per cent and his favourable rating rose from 33 per cent to 37 per cent over the previous month.

US senate allowed sept 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia

The U.S. Senate approved legislation that would allow September 11 victims and their relatives to sue Saudi Arabia over its possible role in the 2001 attacks, a bill which could trigger a diplomatic firestorm.
Senators unanimously approved the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act which now heads to the House of Representatives, where Speaker Paul Ryan has voiced reservations.
The White House has repeatedly stated that President Barack Obama, who visited the kingdom in April to soothe strained ties, opposes the law because it would waive the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

Maldives cuts ties with Iran (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science and Technology ::

Hypersonic test flight promises to shrink world

A two-hour flight from Sydney to London is a step closer to reality after the latest successful test of hypersonic technology in the Australian desert.
A joint U.S.-Australian military research team is running a series of 10 trials at the world’s largest land testing range, Woomera, in South Australia, and at Norway’s Andoya Rocket Range.
It is a game-changing technology and could revolutionise global air travel, providing cost-effective access to space.
Scientists have said hypersonic technology could cut travelling time from Sydney to London to as little as two hours for the 17,000-km flight.]
Hypersonic flight involves travelling at more than five times the speed of sound.
Scientists involved in the programme — called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) — are developing an engine that can fly at Mach 7.
He added that the scramjet was a supersonic combustion engine that uses oxygen from the atmosphere for fuel, making it lighter and faster than fuel-carrying rockets.
The experimental rocket in the trial reached an altitude of 278 kilometres and a target speed of Mach 7.5, Australia’s defence department said.
The first test was conducted in 2009 with the project expected to be completed in 2018.

Nuclear capable indigenously developed Prithvi-II missile test-fired (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Consolidation of associates of SBI will help in global sized institutions

The proposal of SBI to merge its five associate banks with itself and acquire BharatiyaMahila Bank is in line with the government’s policy of consolidation as the country needs global-sized institutions, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
“Consolidation was part of the Indradhanush package. I had announced about consolidation in the Budget, therefore, the banks have acted. It is accordance with the government’s policy,” Jaitley said.
The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) proposed merger of its five associate banks and the three-year old BharatiyaMahila Bank (BMB) with itself and sought the government’s approval for the same.
He said there is a need to reduce the number of banks by consolidating some of them.
Further, he said the banks have given their own opinion and if some banks have a contrarian view, the government will “certainly respect that, look into it and take that into consideration“.
According to SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, with the merger, the balance sheet size of the bank will soar to Rs.37 lakh crore, from Rs.28 lakh crore currently.
The five associate banks that are under proposal to be merged with the banking major are State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.
Among these, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore are listed on bourses.
Asked about the government’s plan on strategic sale in public sector undertakings through divestment, he said suggestions from NITI Aayog are awaited.
Speaking about the government having widened its policy for the first time, Mr. Jaitley pointed out to the available means such as divestment, strategic sale and privatisation, asset recycling and buybacks.

Anti-dumping duty imposed on seamless tubes, steel pipes

The Government has imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty for six months on seamless tubes, steel pipes, among others imported from China.
In March, the Directorate General for Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) had recommended to the Revenue Department to impose provisional levy on import of certain types of iron and steel pipes from China used in oil and gas exploration in a bid to protect the domestic industry from cheap imports.
The anti-dumping duty will be in the range of $ 961.33-$1,610.67.
The duty imposed under this notification shall be effective for a period not exceeding six months (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette and shall be paid in Indian currency.